Private A Different Story

"Well, I hope your persuasive skills are up to scratch... Then again, I never really met the goddess Freyja in person."

As surprising as the news was, Stefan wasn't completely out of the woods yet. She set down the soda bottles on the ground, letting out a dry chuckle at the thought of Skogul beating the tar out of a younger Stefan. The thought of the Valkyries being so... familiar with a complete stranger she just met set her mood down a slope. She looked significantly less happy, giving Stefan a flicker of a glare.

"It sounds like you don't know what the Valkyries did to her. When was the last time you heard from her, I wonder?"

"...Don't be." Trinity took a deep breath. She never really liked talking about her heritage. She started pacing, hands behind her back, to avoid looking Stefan in the eye. Hopefully Freya's kin would be at least more understanding than her subjects. She tried her best to keep her tone calm, but couldn't keep the acid out of her voice.

"It's a bit of a long story... but summarized, my mother was stripped of her wings and sent to Hel when the Valkyries found out that she had been spending time with a mortal. Now I am being crafted to be her replacement." She absently touched her forearm, where a fresh scar from yesterday was healing.

"They have not been kind to me. Neither have they acted heroically, or in any way your stories painted them."

"...Hold on." Trinity held out a hand. "This is getting a bit much. We just met, and you want to talk to your m-- give me a moment."

Trinity continued her pacing, this time more rapidly. She was completely calm now, even a bit hopeful about the prospect of something, anything, changing. But still, things were moving a bit too fast, and she barely knew this person.

"First of all... some part of me really does want to believe the Valkyries are benevolent, or just want to train me to be the best. But the way they speak to me, how I was dragged into this without them listening to what I had to say... sometimes it feels like a punishment, you know?"

She sighed. "I don't know... it's hard to think about what could happen now, but... do try to talk to Freya, I suppose. I have no idea how it will go, but..." Trinity shrugged. This is completely new territory.

Trinity felt as though she were unloading quite a bit of information on Stefan. He had been nothing but supportive all this time. Quite a bit more than she expected from anyone, much less the son of a goddess.

"Imagine that... The Valkyries failing me. Wonder if they'd reconsider if I told them that..."

Trinity fell silent again for a moment, thinking about it. She had stopped pacing and just stared straight at Stefan, or a little to the left. Maybe she should give the Valkyries another chance. Then again, she'd been giving them years to prove that they cared about their protege, even if just for a bit. Choosing the right path wasn't always as difficult as figuring out which path to take. At least Stefan was willing to listen.

"I think I'd be more accepting of my role if it didn't make life so difficult, you know? Did you know that I was planning to stay inside for a couple more weeks so that I wouldn't hurt anyone? The role the Valkyries pushed on me isn't so easy to control... as you saw earlier." She waved her right hand in the air. Most of the bleeding had stopped now. "Things like earlier are the least of my problems. I've lost control more times than I could count, with bigger consequences."

Trinity considered it. She wasn't planning to do anything later; in fact, she was planning to go home and watch 6 seasons of that one show until class started. Which meant hanging out alone for another couple of weeks.

But maybe a little more human interaction would be healthy for her. After all, didn't she come to this island to regain a bit of her social sensibilities?

"Uh... sure. I've only been here for a couple of days, though, so I don't really know any good places to eat. Your call."